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The Termini statues Florence

In Piazza della Signoria, on either side of the main entrance of Palazzo Vecchio, there are two marble statues called Termini (16th century) close to the façade, used until recently as a support for the chain at the entrance. The two terms represent a male and a female figure, the first is attributed to Vincenzo De'Rossi, the second to Baccio Bandinelli. It should be noted that the scarce historical information in this regard does not make the attribution and the period of realization uncertain.
The statues, respectively 2.65 meters and 2.75 meters, are both made of two marble elements horizontally joined in the lower area. The two sculptures rest on white marble pedestals, identical in shape and size.
The male statue is on the left side, while the female statue on the right side of the main entrance, both are located at the same distance from the facade. The statues present the degraded surface due to the deterioration phenomena caused by the thermal excursions and the flow of rainwater, being completely exposed as the nearby statues of David and Hercules and Caco. Also on these sculptures there are the preferential lines of water flow as well evidenced by those that descend from the chin up to the abdomen.

The female divinity presents, in a knot of the tree trunk from which it is generated, an iron ring, stuck with riveted lead to which a chain to close the access to the Palace was hung on special ceremonial occasions. The other end of the chain was hung on a ring, now missing, fixed in a knot of the tree trunk from which the male divinity is generated.
On the female statue in correspondence of the iron ring, the marble is recomposed following a detachment probably caused by the oxidation of the iron. In the lower part of the statue on the left corner there are some fractures and rust stains (percolated by the overlying ring).